MLB has a domestic violence policy that gives it the right to suspend a player whether he has been convicted or not.
It is called the Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.
Regarding the sexual assault case he was investigated for since last year, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer did not face any criminal charges because the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office considered there was not enough evidence to do so.
However, the league applied a monumental suspension, as Bauer won’t play for the next two years.
In total, he will miss 324 games and will be out until 2024, because the games he already missed while being on administrative league don’t count.
He will, however, appeal the suspension, so it could potentially be reduced.
It will be hard for the independent arbitrator to deal with the case because there aren’t many precedents in the league.
No MLB Player Has Ever Appealed A Domestic Violence Suspension
In fact, there are no precedents at all for Bauer’s exact situation: a player suspended for violating the league’s domestic violence policy who wants to appeal.
“As expected, Bauer says he will appeal the suspension. No one suspended for violating the domestic violence and sexual assault policy has ever appealed that suspension,” Washington Post’s Chelsea Janes tweeted on Friday.
As expected, Bauer says he will appeal the suspension. No one suspended for violating the domestic violence and sexual assault policy has ever appealed that suspension. https://t.co/iCTyti2w1p
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) April 29, 2022
Before Bauer, MLB had suspended Wil Cordero, Aroldis Chapman, José Reyes, Héctor Olivera, Jeurys Familia, Derek Norris, Steven Wright, José Torres, Roberto Osuna, Addison Russell, Odúbel Herrera, Julio Urías, Domingo Germán, and Sam Dyson for violating the league’s domestic violence policy.
That’s 14 players: not one of them appealed the suspension.
Of course, the longest suspension for a player on that list was Dyson’s, who received 162 games.
We will see how this one plays out.
NEXT: Video Shows MLB Umpire Ignoring The Obvious Yet Again